District Approves Kids Club Deal
By MICHAEL MOTT
PUBLISHED: April 3, 2015
The Willits Unified School District (WUSD) and Willits Kids Club (WKC) solidified a 10-year deal at the April 1 Board of Trustees meeting, allowing the Kids Club to move forward with new portable classrooms on district property by the Blosser Lane Elementary School campus. The board also awarded the bid for a new driveway to make a new district office. That bid went to Mendocino Construction Services for $35,000, the cost had been estimated at between $48,000-$60,000.
The Kids Club deal will be reviewed every 12 months, was approved after a month of discussion between the district and the after-school program provider. A key issue was whether the portables would need to be approved by the Division of the State Architect (DSA), since they are on district property, which includes expensive inspections and study. In the new deal, the district will pay the difference between the cost of a classroom approved under DSA and one without, up to $39,000 over a six-year period, so that they are DSA compliant. The portables will be jointly owned by WUSD and Kids Club, the percentage of which will be determined by the total cost for installation paid by each organization.
WKC will begin purchasing and moving the portables near the current youth center near Blosser Lane Elementary, with the switch to begin happening at the end of the school year in June.
Previously, WUSD allowed WKC to build their youth center on district property to DSA standards, but not up to full compliance, since the building was not to be used by students during regular school hours and full compliance would have likely made construction impossible due to the timing of the grant and the extensive delays resulting from DSA involvement. WUSD Superintendent Pat Johnson said on that building, along with the pool, the gym at Baechtel Grove Middle School, and any other non-DSA buildings on district property, new signage would be coming to say they don’t meet the minimum requirements.
“The district has to operate under certain rules,” Johnson said, regarding the DSA-compliance. “It’s nice we came to this compromise, and we look forward to working together. I’m very pleased.”
Eric Glassey, President for Willits Kids Club, who attended the board meeting along with most of the WKC staff, said he was glad the proposal went through.
“The district really went out of their way to help the Kids Club, and help the kids of this community to build a stronger organization,” he said.
Chief of Police Gerry Gonzalez, who is also on the WKC board, approved of the deal as well. “We’re a community-based organization that’s been here for 15 years. Karen Oslund just walked in, and some of the other founding members are here as well,” he said. “We want to maintain the collaborative environment with the district, and look forward to working closely with the school superintendent and others to keep that going.”